Storage Area Networks (SANs) are commonplace in network environments. The SAN includes a plurality of storage cells which may be logically grouped so as to appear as direct attached storage (DAS) units to client computing devices. However, SANs offer many advantages over DAS units. For example, SANs eliminate a single point of failure which may occur with DAS units. In addition, SANs can be readily scaled by adding or removing storage cells to suit the needs of a particular network environment.
The storage cells in a SAN are managed by dedicated external storage controllers. The storage controllers are interconnected with one another to allow data to be stored on different physical storage cells while appearing the same as a DAS unit to client computing devices. This configuration also enables data redundancy (also referred to as mirroring or back-up) for data recovery operations. Although entire storage cells may be copied onto secondary or redundant storage cells periodically as a means of backing up the data, more sophisticated data redundancy operations may also be enabled wherein only changes to the data are recorded to other storage cells.
Conventional distributed storage arrays, however, are hardware intensive. That is, in addition to having all of the components required for a typical computer network (i.e., client computing devices, servers, network routers, etc.), a network environment implementing a distributed storage array also requires a complex storage network with dedicated storage controllers and separate storage cells. Accordingly, these distributed storage arrays require a greater physical “footprint” which can be problematic where space is at a premium. The additional hardware required for the distributed storage array also increases the cost to implement and maintain the network environment, typically requiring trained technicians to diagnose and correct problems in the storage network.